Improvement in the manufacture of iron and steel



. PATENT CHARLES LOW, on THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTUREOF IRON AND STEEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,540, dated May 28,1846.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, CHARLES LOW, of Robinsons Row, Kingsland, in thecounty of Middlesex, in that part of Great Britain called England, haveinvented an Improved Method of Making and Manufacturing Iron and Steel;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription-that is to say- Iuse manganese in the state of the blackoxide of commerce, or in any other state of oxidation, plumbago orgraphite, commonly called black-lead, charcoal, and nitrate of eitherpotash, soda, or lime. That which I commonly employ is the saltpeter ofcommerce. These four ingredients mixed well togetherin the followingproportions, and apply in the following manner, viz: Of oxide ofmanganese I take forty-two pounds; of wood charcoal, fourteen pounds; ofplumbago, eight pounds; and of saltpeter, two pounds. In theblastfurnace I add to every charge of ore likely to produce four hundredand eighty pounds weight of met-a1 sixty-six pounds of the above mixtureeither with the iron, stone, or fuel, it

, being immaterial which, so that the proportions are attended to andregularly applied with each charge. In the puddling-furnaceit can beapplied with equal advantage when the pig-iron is in a fused state bythrowing upon the surface of the metal, a few pounds at a time-say twoor three, and continuing doing so at intervals of a few minutes, thepuddler incorporating it by stirring it with the metal till the wholesixty-six pounds are used, oruntil the metal begins to thicken, or, asthe workmen call it, comes to nature. It is then ballcd and sent to thetilt hammerand rollers,

and put through the usual process so well understood and practiced inmaking malleable iron. This being attended to, I have never found theresult fail; but I have always obtained an iron of uniform quality,admitted to be much more fibrous and possessing a greater tenacity thanany with which it has been compared, and capable of making excellentsteel by the usual process of cementation or. other process by whichsteel is made.

Another part of my invention consists in the use of the aforesaidmixture forimproving' the quality of iron by being applied in any of theprocesses of smelting, puddling, and casting in the blast-furnace, thepuddling-furnace, and cupola-furnaee, or other furnace that may be usedby the iron master or founder in like proportions, as above described,adding more or less of the compound, according to the quality of themetal used, of which quality the iron master or founder or his workmenwill be able to judge; but I have found the quantity above namedsufficient for the worst ore or metal. 7

' Another part of my invention consists in the application of the abovemixture to the manu-' the workmen to ascertain) will fuse the iron 7 incontact with the mixture and immediately convert it into cast-steel.lrecommend as the best way of preparing the ingredients for use thatthey should be ground in a mill suitedto such purpose. For thepuddling-furnace they should be ground to a moderately-fine powder, andI should prefer their being applied from the top of the furnace througha hopper or tube, or such like means as would spread them more evenlythan if applied by hand from the furnace-door; but for the blast-furnaceand cupola-furnace they would bebetter applied in a coarser state. Ihave made my calculation upon four hundred and eighty pounds weight ofmetal, having found that to be the charge of pig-iron usually applied atone time to the puddling-furnace; but the workmen will have nodifliculty in judging by the working of the metal whether a less orgreater quantity of the ingredients should be used.

I do not claim the exact proportions as above described, as they mustsomewhat vary for different qualities of iron-ore and iron or of theingredients themselves; nor do I claim the use of any of the aforesaidingredients separately, as they may huve been made'u'se In witnesswhereof I, the said GHARLESLOW,

of before; but have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of I claim----November, 1844. The use of them collectively andiu the pro CHARLES LOW.

portions herein substantially set forth in the manufacture of iron orsteel, either in the Witnesses: blast-furnace, pudclling furnace,cupola, or WM. FIELD, other furnace, or in the melting-pot. WM. JNO.ARNOLD.

